WHERE TO PLANT A HOLLY 
Location—Hollies can be grown in most any kind of well drained 
soil if Oak Leafmold is used around the roots when planting. 
Hollies prefer full sunlight and bear maximum berry crops in sunny 
places. Part shade enhances the leaves but may decrease the number of 
berries. Heavy shade stops berrying and causes the tree to become 
straggly. 
Hollies should not be planted within twenty feet of large trees, par- 
ticularly maples, as big tree roots draw water and food away from the 
Holly. 
In very cold climates, Hollies should be planted in “out of the wind” 
locations, for frozen Holly leaves are so stiff and stickery that they 
scratch and stab each other as they lash about in heavy winds. 
HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR HOLLY TREES 
Water—Hollies can hardly be watered too much if they are planted 
in well drained locations. Hollies like to be watered with lots and lots 
of water once every week or ten days all thru the late spring, summer 
and early autumn. Millions of Hollies do not get this fortunate treatment 
but those folks who water well have just about the loveliest and greenest 
Hollies imaginable. Hollies should freeze with their roots moist, there- 
fore should be watered just before freezing weather and occasionally 
during that rare winter when a mild dry spell occurs. 
Fertilizer—Hollies keep their leaves for two years, dropping the old- 
est leaves when the new leaves come out each spring. Hollies often 
hold their berries for more than a year unless the birds eat them during 
the hungry days of late winter. How different this is from most trees that 
we know ... many drop their leaves after having them only for a few 
months, most all drop their fruit as soon as it is ripe. Hollies thus “work 
harder’ than most trees and need more to eat over longer periods of 
the year. Organic mulches suit Hollies well as with each rain or each 
watering, the juices go down to feed the roots of the Holly. 
We plant our Hollies in Oak Leafmold and use tobacco stem mulch 
on top of the leafmold. Tobacco stem mulch need be applied only once 
each year, either in the autumn, winter or early spring. Using the branch 
spread as a guide, a half-inch to an inch of tobacco stem mulch is applied 
in the form of a blanket under the entire branch spread. The branch 
area of the tree therefore automatically determines the amount to use. 
The sign of an underfed Holly is unattractive dull green or yellow 
green foliage. 
